A train belonging to the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority has hit and killed a buffalo in the Nyerere National Park.
The Tanzania Zambia Railway (TAZARA)’s Kilimanjaro Service train which was traveling from Dar-es-salaam heading to Mbeya, was involved in the said accident within the country’s biggest National Park.
The wildlife hitting accident occured after the locomotive covered a distance of 147 kilometers from Dar.
Following the accident, the Dar es Salaam to Mbeya train service was cut short.
The collision between the TAZARA train and a fully grown Buffalo in the Nyerere National Park over the weekend, resulted in damage to two luggage carriages, a passenger coach wagon and part of the railway track which cuts through the conservancy.
A statement from the Tanzania Zambia Railway (TAZARA) management, explains that the train was compelled to return back to Dar-es-salaam.
The mishap led to cancellation of the train journeys from Dar to Mbeya (down service) and from Mbeya to Dar-es-salaam (up service), pending the repairing of the railway line.
The TAZARA offices in Dar-es-salaam stated that normal train transport services should be resuming anytime soon but did not clarify this will be when.
“That should be as soon as the line is repaired, and the public will be advised accordingly. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,” reads part of the TAZARA statement.
The Tanzania National Park (TANAPA) is yet to issue own statement regarding the accident at Nyerere.
The Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority, popularly known as TAZARA, is a bi-national railway linking the Southern Africa Regional transport network to Eastern Africa’s seaport of Dar es Salaam.
TAZARA is operated jointly by Tanzania and Zambia.
The Tanzania Zambia Railway traverses through the Nyerere National Park and one of the stops is at Kisaki, where it stops to drop and pick passengers. Other trains will stop at Matambwe near the park’s Matambwe Gate.